How to Create an Elegant Minimalist Wedding

We are in the middle of wedding season and to help everyone who is planning for this special day, I created this list of tips to have a minimalist wedding for maximum effect. To recognize the busy wedding season, I divided this post into sections to quickly check off the tasks to make your wedding amazing. From location to wedding gift options, this post will give you all you need.  Let’s get started.

Elegant Minimalist Wedding for Maximum Effect

Pick a fabulous venue.

The location is key to help keep it minimal. Wherever you decide This will give you a restriction of people and will help you decide on what the other features are going to be. Places like parks may be a little too big. But, places like beaches, arboretums, horticultural society, refurbished barn halls, banquet halls, and ski resorts in the off season. Or, check out a destination wedding? January, February, and March are the most unpopular months for weddings. Buy getting married in these months, you are more likely to save money.  There will probably be more availability.

Choose the Right Minimalist Theme.

• Creating themes that are simplified will help you give some guidance on what to do. Look beyond the empty room and see how you can add color and flowers. Image the room when you tour around different venues.
• Start with color. What do you want your accent color to be? Pick a main color and an accent color. Pick colors that are easy to find. White of course is popular but also pick a color that will be used for the accessories, the dresses, and the other areas of the wedding.
• Some themes types could be a country theme, beach theme, favorite book theme, and period theme. I had a client some years ago that had a renaissance wedding. They all dressed up in renaissance attire. It looked very beautiful and simple. It was a theme they both enjoyed and wanted to share with guests.

Create beautiful invitations without breaking the bank.

• Creating your own invitation will allow you to really make it about you and your partner. There are plenty of sites that will give you options.  This one has some great options for you.

Make favor gifts that are personal to you and your partner.

• I love it when an item can be cleverly used for two different duties. Homemade gifts are wonderfully popular. Create favor gifts that can also be given to people.  For example, A piece could be a seat assignment sign that is displayed at the banquet hall and then after the banquet they can take it home as a favor gift.
• Set up a fun game and the winner wins the centerpiece on each table that way they will not be wasted.

Stay away from the traditional bridal gift.

• Request cash as gifts instead of stuff. Stuff is definitely not minimal. You can even, request honeymoon activities as a gift. I recently received a honeymoon registry card from one of our nephews who is getting married soon. It’s a great idea to allow people to pay for things they can do on their honeymoon. Experiences are so much more fun than things.
• Setup a worthy cause donation box. Request people to donate to the worthy cause instead of giving a gift to you. This is great for second marriages when you most likely have stuff. (aff.)

Make your own wedding decorations.

• Make favor gifts serving two duties. Create a seat assignment card as a favor gift for your guests.
• Repurpose vintage items like tablecloths for a hint of sophistication and repurpose. Floating candles.
• Repurpose the beautiful flowers. We had silk bouquets made for our wedding.  I then when out and bought a low vase to place the bouquet in and gave it to each bridesmaid. I then took my bouquet apart and hot glued them onto a decorative wall hat which hung on my wall for many years.
• Live Bouquet made easy. Purchase wildflowers from a wholesaler in your area and add a splash of accent flowers you enjoy for a hint of your theme color while adding untraditional greens for even more depth.

Make the food and beverage represent you and your partner and your story.

• In a smaller venue, have a sit-down dinner style. When my husband and I had our wedding, we had a sit down 5-course dinner because our venue was quite a bit smaller. It was a traditional Italian meal with an appetizer, salad, pasta, meat, and dessert.
• You can even create a meal around a story. What was your favorite meal when you first met and what was the story of your meeting? Share it will the wedding attendees.
• Now, let’s talk about desserts, yum! Make your own desserts that represent the happy couple. Make your own bachelor cake or bride cake. Create a dessert station as well as a tiered cake. Make a cupcake arrangement instead of formal wedding cake. Create a variety of mini desserts.
• Cocktail receptions are a wonderful way to have a party after the wedding for an affordable price. How about a Mimosa bar?
• A brunch buffet is beautiful too. We had friends that just couldn’t afford a large wedding so instead, they did a brunch buffet and got married in the morning at a beautiful historical home.

There are so many details to deal with when planning a wedding. So, keep in mind, that the simpler, the tasks are, and the easier one activity flows to the next will make your wedding feel seamless and elegant. And, most likely more affordable. I hope this helps you get the wedding you want.  If you had a minimalist wedding, please share your tips below.

But wait, while researching this topic, I found these wonderful wedding trends articles to help you get inspired for a minimalist but elegant wedding:

The Hottest New Wedding Trends for 2017

13 Wedding Trends That Will Be Huge in 2017

10 Helpful Wedding Tips To Reduce Stress

8 Simple yet Stunning Rustic Reception Decorations to Suite your Venue